Joel Pereira hails Sir Alex Ferguson effect at Man Utd

The now 23-year-old has been around long enough to remember the influence Ferguson had at the club.

“The way he spoke, at that second I made my mind up to go to the club. I couldn’t speak a word of English so it wasn’t very easy to understand.

Pereira is under no illusions that he will have to fight for his place at Hearts, but insisted he is at Tynecastle to earn a regular spot in the starting XI.

Hearts loanee Joel Pereira hailed the influence former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson had on him when he joined the “best club in the world”.

Pereira has made the loan switch north of the border this season in order to gain some first-team experience, with David de Gea, Sergio Romero and Lee Grant all ahead of him in the pecking order at United.

Having been at United since the age of 15, the now 23-year-old has been around long enough to remember the influence Ferguson had at the club, and will not forget the role Ferguson played in his recruitment.

“Sir Alex was the manager when I first arrived and then I’ve had them all,” Pereira told the Daily Record. “I came as a 15-year-old for the first time and I remember seeing him for the first time in the canteen.

“Face to face he talked to me and that’s when I knew I wanted to come to Manchester United because at the time I had different options.

“The way he spoke, at that second I made my mind up to go to the club. I couldn’t speak a word of English so it wasn’t very easy to understand.

“I had someone translate but he said I was at the best club in the world and he told me to do great things. When these words come from a legend you listen. I more than ever believed that I was at the best club in the world.”

Pereira is under no illusions that he will have to fight for his place at Hearts, but insisted he is at Tynecastle to earn a regular spot in the starting XI.

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